And whether they’re worth an hour and a half of your life…
Christmas is officially here, and if the mince pies, 2020 John Lewis Christmas advert and turkey trimmings Pret sandwiches weren’t convincing enough, Netflix has ensured that we all know that the yuletide is upon us.
How? By making and releasing so many Christmas films that there are no festive plots left.
Two years ago, we had A Christmas Prince and it proved to be a smash hit. So, now we have A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby, The Knight Before Christmas, A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding, A Princess Switch, Christmas Inheritance, Christmas Wedding Planner, The Holiday Calendar, A Wish For Christmas, Once Upon A Holiday, The Holidate and even The Christmas Chronicles.
And if that list couldn’t get any better, there are also promises of A Princess Switch 2 (yes, really), A Christmas Chronicles 2 and Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square.
The movies tend to follow the same winning formula, with most of them featuring some form of royalty, a fake European country, giant candy canes, hygge-style baking scenes, some element of magic and a once great actor or actress who has clearly fallen on hard times.
And while none of these films pretend to be Academy Award winners, some are definitely more worth your time than others.
But which will be enjoyable over a glass of mulled wine and which will waste an hour and a half of your life that you will never get back?
Here’s our rundown…
The Knight Before Christmas
Plot: This surprising plot sees a medieval knight, Sir Cole from Norwich (yes, really), transported to present day Ohio where his quest is to open his heart to science teacher Brooke, who needs a reminder that love is real.
Recognisable cast members: Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Whitehouse (Poldark)
Festive rating: 5/5 mistletoes
Quality rating: 4/5 mistletoes
A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby
Plot: The latest in the Christmas Prince franchise, this plot sees Amber and Richard become royal parents as they prepare for the arrival of their first baby at Christmas. But that’s not all, with the additional story arc of the disappearance of a sacred treaty, which if it isn’t found will put an ancient curse on their unborn child.
Recognisable cast members: Rose McIver (The Lovely Bones and Once Upon A Time) and Ben Lamb (Divergent)
Festive rating: 5/5 mistletoes
Quality rating: 3/5 mistletoes
The Princess Switch
Plot: This Parent Trap esque flick involves a European Duchess switching places with an ordinary baker from Chicago, who looks identical to her, just one week before Christmas. Inevitably they fall in love with each other’s partners, want each other’s lives and somehow everything ties together perfectly in the end.
Recognisable cast members: Vanessa Hudgens (she plays both the leads)
Festive rating: 5/5 mistletoes
Quality rating: 4/5 mistletoes
A Christmas Prince
Plot: A journalist somehow manages to sneak into a royal palace and pose as a tutor to get the scoop on the playboy prince, who she ends up falling in love with – after breaking a viral news story about him.
Recognisable cast members: Rose McIver (The Lovely Bones and Once Upon A Time) and Ben Lamb (Divergent)
Festive rating: 5/5 mistletoes
Quality rating: 3/5 mistletoes
The Holiday Calendar
Plot: A struggling photographer gets given a magical advent calendar that seems to predict each day of advent (yes, really!), making huge changes in her love life.
Recognisable cast members: Kat Graham (Bonnie from Vampire Diaries)
Festive rating: 5/5 mistletoes
Quality rating: 3/5 mistletoes
Christmas Wedding Planner
Plot: An aspiring wedding planner is in the middle of organising her cousin’s nuptials when the bride’s ex-boyfriend-turned-private investigator recruits her to look into the groom.
Recognisable cast members: Kelly Rutherford (Gossip Girl‘s Lily Van der Woodsen)
Festive rating: 3/5 mistletoes
Quality rating: 2/5 mistletoes
A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding
Plot: A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding unsurprisingly follows on from the first film, and also unsurprisingly follows their wedding. But with her husband now on the throne and her country facing huge economic problems, Amber doesn’t feel like planning her nuptials, going back into investigative journalism instead.
Recognisable cast members: Rose McIver (The Lovely Bones and Once Upon A Time) and Ben Lamb (Divergent)
Festive rating: 3/5 mistletoes
Quality rating: 2/5 mistletoes
Christmas Inheritance
Plot: An heiress has to prove she’s worthy of inheriting her father’s business by delivering a special Christmas package to Snow Falls, before getting stranded and realising the spirit of Christmas.
Recognisable cast members: Eliza Taylor (Janae from Neighbours) and Andie MacDowell (Four Weddings and a Funeral)
Festive rating: 5/5 mistletoes
Quality rating: 4/5 mistletoes
A Wish For Christmas
Plot: A shy woman gets given a magical wish in her office secret santa (yes, really!) and she asks for confidence. She then stands up to everyone, gets a promotion and goes to spend Christmas with her boss.
Recognisable cast members: Lacey Charbert (Gretchen Wieners from Mean Girls)
Festive rating: 3/5 mistletoes
Quality rating: 1/5 mistletoes
The Christmas Chronicles
Plot: A brother and sister end up healing their difficult relationship when they accidentally sneak onto Father Christmas’ sleigh and help him deliver presents. Yes, you guessed it, they save Christmas.
Recognisable cast members: Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn and Lamorne Morris
Festive rating: 5/5 mistletoes
Quality rating: 4/5 mistletoes
Once Upon A Holiday
Plot: An orphaned princess runs away from her duties in New York during Christmas, posing as a photographer, and naturally, finding herself and her true love.
Recognisable cast members: Briana Evigan (Andie from Step Up 2: The Streets)
Festive rating: 4/5 mistletoes
Quality rating: 3/5 mistletoes
Well, there you have it – happy watching!
The post A comprehensive ranking of every Netflix Christmas film on your queue this winter appeared first on Marie Claire.